A Blackbird in Flight
by ElfCollaborator
Summary: Cardin Winchester's relationship with Melanie Malachite and how it affects him in several snapshots. Fluff, CardinxMelanie (Blackbird), rated T for cursing, themes and insanity, and its base material. Set in the Reactsverse, prepare for crack. Oneshot. AU, not based entirely on canon, etc,etc.


**A Blackbird in Flight**

**A/N: Good day, ladies and gents, and welcome to- oh wait, this isn't a Weiss Reacts! It isn't? :O Of course not! Then what are these shenanigans?!**

**Why, stories taking place in the Reactsverse, of course. I thought that it might be interesting to see what other characters behind the scenes of Weiss Reacts think; true, we see people like Velvet, Ren, Nora, occasionally the Malachites, Goodwitch...but we never see the one guy I keep saying changed from canon, Cardin. Well, I felt like exploring Reactsverse!Cardin for once, so yeah, have a free oneshot that may refer to Weiss Reacts often! I also decided that throwing in Reactsverse!Melanie was a good idea!**

**Fair warning, this ships MelaniexCardin, so, uh, watch out. Oh, and this also features heroic!Cardin, which some people may not approve of. So if you're not a fan of Meladin/Blackbird (geddit)/or whatever other silly name I come up with for a pairing that's crack as it is, go read some soothing White Rose or Bumblebee instead. I highly approve of supporting authors instead of wasting your time on a crappy fic like mine!**

**I'm going to stop wasting your time now and let you read, those of you still reading. Have fun!  
DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise MelaniexCardin would be a thing.**

**Takes place in the Reactsverse; all characterisation and backstory is based off their portrayal in Weiss Reacts, so if there's something that doesn't mesh with canon, sorry 'bout that.**

* * *

Cardin Winchester is alone. It's been two weeks since the incident in the Forest of Forever Fall.

Despite sitting in Beacon's canteen, with many people around him, he is alone. He FEELS alone. He feels guilty. He feels repentant.

Ever since Dove had dared him to put that load of sap- sap that would get Rapier Wasps to attack Pyrrha- he'd gotten the blame for it. True, he'd felt pressured to bully Jaune- poor Jaune, he didn't really hate him that much, despite everything he'd said, he just felt like he needed to, his team were jerks- and hadn't done a thing to stop it and true, he'd even considered doing that to Pyrrha.

He looks over at Jaune, who is surrounded by his team, Pyrrha with her hand on his back and checking him for injuries; they'd just exited training, and Jaune had taken a fair bit of punishment from Yang and Blake; the latter using what Cardin assumed to be a rocket-propelled boxing glove attached to Gambol Shroud for no apparent reason.

Cardin wants to go over there and check over Jaune, standing up to do so, before realising that he isn't welcome. Two weeks ago, Jaune had saved him from that Ursa- and this was after he'd put him through all that shit- and protected him. Why should anyone do that?

Cardin thinks. Why should someone, especially the guy he'd been victimising, protect him? His own 'friends' abandoned him since that incident, out of fear of Jaune and also after referring to Cardin as a coward.

Not that he didn't deserve it, in his own opinion. He deserved all the worst.

He was too boneless to not be pressured by his team, too boneless to stop himself bullying Velvet- he wanted to apologise, wanted to make it all better, but she avoided him and Russell laughed at him when he talked about apologising- and too boneless to even stand up to apologise.

He was Cardin Winchester, for Dust's sake! And yet he couldn't even do this little thing that would show he was different, that he wasn't the racist bully that everyone thought he was.

Not that anyone would believe him. It was too soon.

Cardin sighed and put his head in his hands, still alone. Nobody noticed, save a pair of owl Faunus, who were chuckling to themselves at him, presumably taking notice of what Karma did to him.

Nobody, of course, except for _her_.

* * *

It is the next day. Cardin Winchester is still alone.

It's lunchtime again. He's sitting by himself; by now, team CRDL has all but abandoned him- they don't talk to him, speak to him, and barely acknowledge him in training as their leader. He's at his lowest.

He's considering asking Ozpin if he can just leave Beacon. Really, nobody would care. An immense douche like him, leaving their lives, would be worth nary a care. Proving himself to be kind and good looked to be an impossible task; it didn't help that most of the students hated him for what he did to Velvet, and that his team- the people supposed to be supporting him- had simply left him there to languish.

Cardin sighs and leans forward, putting his head on the desk to rest for a bit. He'd resolved to do it; he'd go to Ozpin, tonight, and ask if he could leave Beacon. Yes, that would be it. He'd disgraced his family, disgraced himself, and he'd blown his chance at being a Huntsman, by being a cowardly bully, succumbing to peer pressure. He didn't deserve a chance at it, he thought. He really-

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Huh?" Cardin looks up, his train of thought interrupted.

She's right there, staring down at him. Her pale skin contrasts with the rich brown of the Beacon uniform most students wore, her light green eyes looking hopefully at him, and her black, lustrous hair splayed around her shoulders, with a calm polite voice.

What surprises Cardin is that she wants to sit next to him. Didn't she know who he was?

"Uh..." He hesitates for a second. How did he know she wasn't just some setup? He looks into her eyes again- a part of him uses this as an excuse to stare into those beautiful green eyes- and realises she isn't; from what little he knows of reading people, she's not hiding anything. He sighs.

"Fine, you can sit next to me." Cardin grumbles and moves aside to let her sit next to him.

"Thanks. I was kinda hoping that my sister would show up." She nods, placing her tray down next to him. "She's probably in Forging, making herself a new weapon or something to fix her old one."

"Uhuh." He nods.

"Hey, you feeling alright there?"

"Fine."

"You sure-"  
"I said I was fine!" Cardin snaps, glaring at the girl for a second, before looking away, ashamed. She didn't do anything to him. She didn't deserve him getting angry at her. He sighs and looks back at her slowly; she's looking at him, eyes slightly widened, but understanding.

"Look...I'm sorry." Cardin says. "I've just had a couple a'rough weeks."  
"I see." The girl nods. "We all have our bad times."  
"I kinda brought that upon myself, to be honest." He chuckles drily.

"What could you have done to look so hard-done?"

"Just...bad things." He admits. "Things that I regret, things that I wish I didn't do and things I can't take back. I just..." He looks down, his voice breaking slightly. "...I just want to make people think I'm a good guy. I don't..."

The girl puts a small hand on his shoulder. "...I don't think you're a bad guy."

"Huh?"

"...you look fine to me. You're not cackling evily, you're not kicking puppies, you're not plotting world domination." She shrugs. "You seem okay."

This makes Cardin laugh a little. "Heh. You keep on thinking that..."  
"Well, you apologised for shouting at me. That's a start." The girl continued, smiling slightly. "I'm not much of a people reader, but most bad people don't have the decency to apologise."

"...you're right, I suppose." Cardin chuckles again. "Thanks, I suppose. You...really helped me out."  
"No problem!" She smiles brightly. "Always here to help."

"Say, I never properly introduced myself." Cardin extends a hand, trembling slightly, but he manages to compose himself. "Cardin Winchester."

"Melanie Malachite." She shakes it firmly; despite her small hands, she has a firm grip. "Nice to meet ya, Cardin."  
"Y-you too." He sighs. "...don't you have anyone else to sit next to?"  
"No, not really." Melanie says nonchalantly. "Except my sis. The pair we share our dorm with aren't around often."

"Uhuh. So uh...you...what team are you in, anyway?"  
"Team MEME. Me, my sister Miltiades- we call her Milly-, Elizabeth and Emma Eos. And you?"  
"Team CRDL. Me and a bunch of other guys."

"...you're not on the best of terms with them, huh?"

"You could say that." Cardin responds, shrugging.

The two talk and talk for the rest of the lunch break- Melanie about how Peach's Vytalian Botany class was exciting- never before had anyone seen a plant that acted like a Grimm- and Cardin about how hilarious it was being in Oobleck's Vytalian History class.

As he goes on, talking with someone, Cardin eventually realises that he no longer feels so lonely. He decides that he'll probably stay at Beacon; leaving was a stupid idea, anyway.

Melanie treated him nice, after all. Who's to say that nobody else will?

* * *

Cardin Winchester is dozing off. It has been a week since he and Melanie first met, and they've quickly become friends, much to his own surprise. Despite her finding out about what he did to Velvet, Jaune and Pyrrha, much to his shock, she brushed it off, saying 'it's all in the past, and I'm sure that they'll forgive you if you just make up for it'. He hopes she's right.

For now, though, he's got more pressing concerns.

It's an early morning class; eight forty instead of the normal nine thirty class, and, joy of joys, it's Port's Grimm Biology class. He sighs, looking at the clock. This is going to be a long, LONG lesson- no sign of class favorite Edgar the Tantor- nor Port himself, for that matter. Some random, boring looking old man was standing at the podium. He'd later find out Port was off getting some medicine for Edgar, who'd fallen ill with some stomach bug- everyone sent him 'get well fast' quilts and bouquets, and Weiss had even sent in a whole year's supply of Schnee-brand pet treats.

He sighs. "Shit..." Cardin grumbles, looking around him. Nobody was sitting next to him; the rest of CRDL was sitting somewhere off the back, talking fairly loudly about something of little consequence. He leans back in his chair, bored.

"Dammit, this lesson's going to be long." Looking at his textbook, Cardin lazily opens it, not even seeing the text and images on the page, as the lecturer began to drone on and on and on-

"Hey, mind if you move in for a sec?"  
"Sure-" Cardin stops, looking up. It was Melanie, waving at him.  
"Oh, Cardin? Hi!"

"Oh, hey, Melanie." He moves his chair in to let the girl walk in and take a seat next to him. She pulls her school things out, opening her textbook to the page on the board. "Where's Port?"

"Gone. Some old guy's taken his place today." Cardin grumbles. "Heh. Three minutes in and I'm already bored."

"Sounds fun." Melanie remarks.

"Heh." Cardin sighs, fiddling with his pencils. "You never told me you took Grimm Biology."  
"Oh, I moved from Goodwitch's Theory of Semblances." The girl clarifies. "I mean, I USED to be interested in how Semblances work, but Goodwitch's so intense, you know?"

"I know." Cardin nods in agreement; Glynda was indeed incredibly intense for a teacher. "Port's fun, though. Always talking about the times he and his old buds went adventuring."  
"Yeah, Milly says it's pretty fun. He lets Edgar out sometimes, too, and lets people take rides on him."  
"What, really?" Cardin perks up. Melanie nods happily. "Mhm! Milly took a ride on him once."  
"Huh, really..." The boy nods, scribbling down Edgar's appearance on a piece of paper. He wanted to do something with it later.

"She says he's rough, but pretty docile and kinda adorable if you don't treat him bad." The girl recalls. "Pretty weird for a Grimm, right?"  
"Yeah..." Cardin chuckles. "I suppose-"

"You two, what are you doing?" Their heads shoot up; it's the lecturer, who's finally noticed their talking. "You two do realise I AM teaching a LESSON here, right?"

"Yes sir!"

"Right." Cardin lazily nods.

"Good. I would appreciate it if you two stopped talking while I am TEACHING." The lecturer grumbles, before returning to his lecture. "As I was saying..."

Cardin sighs and rests his head on the desk. This was going to be a LONG lesson. Melanie giggles.

"Sleepy already?"  
"Might as well put the time to good use." He remarks.

She shrugs and puts her head down next to him. "Might as well do the same thing, then."

It wasn't as bad as he expected in the end. Melanie was with him.

* * *

Cardin Winchester is walking around. It's a sunny day, a month since he met Melanie. Lately, they seem to hang around each other a lot, sitting next to each other, Melanie keeping him company when nobody else will, and him always welcoming the company. Some people look at Melanie strangely, but only for a bit, and scurry away when Cardin glares at them.

He didn't like it when people looked at her like she was stupid. He knew what they thought; what was she doing, hanging out with someone like him? Cardin wanted to tell them to leave her alone, that he deserved to be ostracized, not her, but then he'd probably get accused of bullying them, and thus the cycle would begin anew.

Right now, though, he's making his first step of atonement. He's looking for Jaune. In his hand is a plastic bag, containing things that he thought Jaune might like- a gift always softened people up, he found. He was going to need all the softening up he could get.

It was worth it, however, if he could get one person to like him apart from Melanie.

He remembered just how this had all come about; one day, Melanie suggested something that he was too scared to try; apologise to Jaune. At first, he'd vehemently refused- not because he didn't want to, and frankly, Jaune deserved that apology- but because he was scared of being rejected. He knew he had earned nothing more for what he did, but he was still scared.

Eventually, however, Melanie had persuaded him to, and so Cardin went to start preparing for it.

He rounded the corner, moving forwards a couple of strides and there it was, team JNPR's dorm door. Cardin breathed in; he was partially scared of what Nora and Pyrrha might do to him- more Nora than Pyrrha- and partially scared that Jaune would simply reject him- not that he didn't deserve it for what he did- but he knew he had to make amends somehow. This little exchange might help.

Apprehension in him, Cardin slowly raps on the door with his knuckle.

From inside...

"Huh?"  
"I'll get it!"  
"W-wait, Jaune! Don't leave me with N-Nora!"  
"COME BACK HERE REN I'M NOT DONE YET!"

Jaune opens the door. "Hey-oh." He looks up at Cardin. "What do you want?"

"Uh..." Cardin rubs the back of his head. "...hey. I...I kinda need to talk to you."  
Jaune looks warily at him, suspicious. When he's sure Cardin doesn't have the rest of his team about to spring out at him... "What do you want?"  
"I uh...I know that...I know that I did something wrong..." The boy gulped. "...and I'm sorry."

"...you're apologising?" The blonde boy looks confused. "...wow. Uh...what's going on? Did I fall into a magic rabbit hole or something?"  
"Wuh-no!" Cardin glared at him. "Look, I'm just...trying to make up for what I did to you, and Pyrrha, and Velvet."

"...you're serious?"

"Dead serious." Cardin nodded. "I...was a jerk. A big one."

"Well..." Jaune sighed. "...now that you mention it...you did seem kinda off when you did all that."  
"Uh, yeah. Long story."

"Well...I suppose I accept your apology." Jaune smiles slightly. "If you really mean it."  
"Of course." Cardin sighs in relief; Jaune didn't reject him and there was no Nora flying out to horribly murder him and fracture his kneecaps. "We're cool, right?"

"Heh." Jaune sighs. "We're not friends...but at least we're not enemies."

"G-good to hear." He chuckles nervously, handing over the bag. "Here. I thought you might like this."

"Huh...what's-" Jaune stops, lifting what seems to be a Firefly box out of the bag. "...oh my Dust, how did you...how'd you know I like this?!"  
"I didn't." Cardin chuckles. "I kinda figured you and, uh, your team would want something good to watch on a weekend, so I decided to get you this for your troubles."

Jaune laughs. "Well, you sure hit the mark there. Maybe we'll watch it with you."  
"Really?"  
"Maybe." Jaune sighs. "...you're not as bad as I thought, Cardin."  
"...thanks, Jaune." Cardin smiles a bit.

"Now, if you excuse me, I've got a crazy sloth lover and her not-boyfriend to deal with. We should hang out sometime, Cardin." Jaune offered.

"Uh, if you really want, I suppose." He shrugs.

"NORA GET OFF OF ME AND PUT THOSE POSTERS OF EUPHIE BACK!"  
"Nuh-uh!"

Jaune sighs, turning away. As he shuts the door, Cardin can hear his shouting; "Nora, that is NOT a pancake! Put that down!"

Cardin exhales. He did it. He made another friend.

"...thanks, Melanie." He says to himself. "Thanks."

As he walks past, he doesn't notice Melanie looking at him, smiling proudly.

* * *

Cardin Winchester is angry. It's been six months since he met Melanie, and the two are by now close friends, closer than anyone else in the academy. By now, Cardin can count JNPR and RWBY among his friends, although Blake and Weiss are still suspicious of him, Jaune always assures them that Cardin's a good guy now, and of course when she can, Melanie tries the same. CRDL, on the other hand, has grown farther apart from their leader than never before; they mostly ignore his existence, apart from nasty comments regarding his lack of friends, but Cardin ignores it, mostly, until one day.

He woke up that morning, did his usual morning routine and went up to his lockers to find that his beloved mace, Skullsplitter, was wrecked. Dove did it; he said that Cardin needed to learn to be a tough guy again.

Presumably, Dove meant learning how to be an asshole again. Needless to say, Dove nearly didn't escape the armory that morning- if it wasn't for Port watching, Cardin wouldn't have let him go.

He decided to go the official route, instead reporting to Goodwitch that he would need a new weapon as his current one was wrecked. Instead of supplying him a new one, she sent him straight to Forging, lecturing him that "you need to learn to make your own weapons, as it builds character! And anyway, if we gave every last student who'd accidentally broken their weapons a replacement, we'd be out in hours."

So he sat in the Forges for hours, thinking about what a good weapon would be. Preferably one with a ranged mode; Skullsplitter, while it was a pretty handy mace, was a normal, average, crappy mace.

"...you here to repair your weapon too?" Melanie asks, sitting next to him.

"Making a new one."

"Huh?"  
"Dove, the asshole, broke my old one."

"Oh!" Melanie looks concerned. "Did you-"  
"No, I didn't tell Ozpin. Not his problem." Cardin clenches his fist. "Still...I made that thing from a hunk of steel, and I love it like it was a pet. That bastard..."  
"Hey, calm down." Melanie puts a hand on his shoulder. "You can take it out on the Grimm."

"...hmph." He sighs. "...I suppose. So, how do you propose we go about this?"  
"Well...you need a really good weapon that can go ranged AND melee, right?" Melanie asks.

"Uhuh."  
"Well..." She roots through her bag, before pulling out a blueprint, extending it. "Me and Milly made this one in class. It's pretty rudimentary, but it's a good concept. We don't really want one of these; Milly and I are all about punches and kicks, and we'd give this to Blake, but she's got Gambol Shroud already..."

"What..." Cardin scratches his head. "...is it?"  
"It's a drillzooka! A drill combined with a bazooka! That shoots drills."

"Uhuh..." Cardin scrutinizes it. "...that's a lovely idea. I suppose I'll use it." He smiles at Melanie, who's come to associate that small smile with him being happy beyond belief.

"Feel free." She shrugs. "I'll even help you make it!"  
"What, really?" He looks hopefully at her.

"Uhuh!"

"...thanks, but, uh, don't you have some-"  
"Oh, my repairs can wait." Melanie brushes it off. "You need a new weapon, and fast, right?"  
"I suppose..." He sighs. "Let's get started then."

For the better part of the day, Melanie and Cardin work on the new weapon, painting it silver and gold, like Cardin's armor. The new weapon comes out well and comes out strong; the drill alone would have Blake drooling all over it, and the bazooka would be enough to make Nora jealous.

They call it Needler, and Cardin can't be more proud.

When he looks at Melanie, who looks just so _cute_ when she's proud like that...what is that he's feeling?

Probably nothing. He brushes it off for now.

* * *

Cardin Winchester is burdened. It's been nearly a year since he met Melanie. He, team JNPR and RWBY are wandering about outside in Vale. He's carrying everyone's shopping like a pack mule- especially Weiss, as the girl seems to have endless pockets and a hunger for identical clothing.

"But Weeeeiss! I'm huuuuuungry!"Yang complains.

"Quit whining, Xiao Long, you just ate two whole boxes of corndogs!" Weiss snaps.

"And you also ate a bargain box from the Schnee Burrito Parlor." Ren adds.

"And an entire Meat Lovers pizza from the Schnee Pizza Parlor." Pyrrha confirms.

"And the Tantor Meat Feast pack from the-"  
"I get it!" Yang sighs. "A girl needs her food, though." She pouts.

Cardin sighs and gets to carrying the large bundle of shopping on him. That is, until a hand taps him on the shoulder. He looks to see Melanie, who's pointing to the bags.

"Lemme guess, Weiss?"  
"Weiss." He sighs. "I swear, the girl seems to like buying the same kinda jacket over and over. Really, the fabric isn't even that good."  
"Hey! She has some taste! She does buy-"  
"Azure, turquoise, light blue, yeah, yeah, I know my dyes and fabrics." He grumbles. "It's just really damn heavy."  
"Hey, I'll carry some for you!" Melanie offered.

"Nah, it's fine, I got-" Before he could finish his sentence, Melanie had already taken some of his bags and started carrying them. "Too late."  
"Tch. You didn't have to help me."  
"I wanted to~"  
"You're always helping me. Why is that?" Cardin inquires. He was genuinely curious. Not that he wanted her to stop- he liked having her around.

"Isn't it obvious? I think you're really in need of my help." She shrugs. "And I like hanging around with you, Cardin."  
"Really?"  
"Sure. I mean, even all those months ago, you weren't a bad guy. You aren't now." Melanie smiles. "And besides, you always help me out too."  
"Yeah, but..." He sighs. "...it's not a problem. I was just askin'."  
"Oh, no problem at all!" She giggles. "Now, shall we catch up to the rest of them before we get lost?"

"Uhuh." The pair rushed forwards to catch up to the others.

For some reason, Cardin decides that he wants to find something out. He's curious. Very curious. He's not interested himself, but he's curious.

"Say..." Cardin asks. "...you looking for anyone right now?"  
"Huh?" Melanie tilts her head.

"Like...a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend, if you swing that way?"  
"..." Melanie shrugs. "Well, a boyfriend...I never really looked for one, I suppose."

"Really? You should!" Cardin says, before backing out. "I mean...you're a really nice, pretty girl..."  
"Thanks!" She giggles. "Well...I suppose...I mean, everyone, my sister included, fawns over Jaune or Ren, but...I'm not looking for either of them, really."  
"Huh?" Cardin's heart flutters for a second. Was she- wait, why was he asking this question? He wasn't interested in Melanie that way, right? Right?

"No, if I were to look for a boyfriend..." Melanie nods. "I'd want a big, strong guy, who's got a rough exterior and a cuddly interior. A sensitive interior. Like a tough biscuit with a soft center!

I just want a guy who, no matter how rough and tough he gets, is pretty nice on the inside and isn't scared to show he cares."  
"...sounds pretty, uh, nice." Cardin brushed the back of his head. He felt himself turning red.

"...you okay, Cardin?"

"Eh? Uh, yeah." He shrugs. "Just a little sunstroke. Damn it, Weiss, you crazy bitch."

"...yeah." She snorts. "So...how about this...knowledge of fabrics and dyes?"

"Oh, that?" Cardin starts. "Oh, well, really, it's just that..."

Melanie eventually found out about Cardin's love of sewing and creating plushies for people; mainly cute animals; it was him who'd made a large Edgar plushie for Port, and it was him who'd made Weiss a shark plushie for her birthday.

Of course, she found it absolutely adorable.

Cardin, meanwhile, as they talked, thought and thought and thought.

Did Melanie's description of an ideal man apply to him?

* * *

Cardin Winchester is enduring. It's been nearly a year and a half since he met Melanie. He's getting closer to RWBY, JNPR, and team MEME; in particular, Melanie, obviously. He's had the question hover around his head over the past year, though.

What, really, were his feelings towards Melanie, and what were hers towards him?

He sighs. Now isn't the time to think about such things. He's busy working on something; a plushie of a lion. This is really tense work, this is- he picked a time when CRDL would be outside doing something, so he could sew in peace, when-

"Making pansy little teddies, are we?" Cardin looks up, to see Russell and Dove, sneering at him.

Cardin growls. "None of your business. Go away."  
"Oh, now, that's no way to talk to your team, oh great leader!" Dove chuckles.

"You've been busy, haven't you, hanging out with those idiots in RWBY, JNPR, and that Melanie girl?" Russell says mockingly.

"Shut up." Cardin repeats what he said, slightly angrier.

"Aawwww, is little baby Cardin mad?" Dove laughs. "You've got to get over it. Go crying back to your mommy, fatass."

That was the first strike. Those who knew Cardin knew that he had three buttons that one should never press; his mother, his friends, and Melanie.

Sadly, Dove and Russell did NOT know him well.

"What did you say?" Cardin throws his needles aside.

"Go crying back to your old hag of a mother, you fat shit." Dove scoffs. Russell, however, senses danger coming. "Uh, dude..."  
"Quit being such a pussy, Russell. Lookit him, getting all tough." Dove laughs. "Oh, what now, you gonna call your shitass friends? That bitchy Schnee girl? That slut, Yang? That dirty little rat shit Blake? Oh, oh, I know, you're going to call that whore Nikos!"

That was the second strike. Cardin felt anger boiling in him as Dove proceeded to insult all of his friends.

"Shut up, Bronzewing. I'm telling you now. Shut up."

"Oooooh, we got a badass over here!" Dove mockingly laughed at him. Russell, however, was backing away.

"What's next, you gonna cry to Melanie? That whore in a gothic dress! She looks like such an emo poser bitch! Yeah, you go run to her, cry!"

Third strike. Cardin snaps. Nobody insulted Melanie in front of him. Nobody.

He cared about her more than anyone else in this forsaken school, and Dove DARED to call her a whore?

No. He wouldn't have it.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BASTARD!" Before Dove realised it, he was on the opposite side of the dorm, his nose bleeding, Cardin's fist extended.

"YOU DARE CALL MELANIE A WHORE! WATCH WHAT I DO TO YOU! I'M GOING TO RENOVATE YOUR FUCKING ASS, YOU SONOFABITCH! WATCH ME!" Cardin roars at him. Russell abandons Dove to his fate.

It takes Sky- later on revealed to have cut off all ties to Dove and Russell- Nora and a passing-by Oobleck to stop Cardin from obliterating Dove completely.

Cardin is taken to Ozpin's office, along with a bloodied Dove. Dove screams about how Cardin tried to kill him and maul him, while Cardin, calmly, with barely restrained rage, informs the headmaster that Dove had proceeded to insult his mother, the entirety of teams RWBY and JNPR, and finally Melanie, in an attempt to set him off, and that he doesn't at all regret it.

Dove is suspended for a month, while Cardin has to take anger management classes. It's worth it.

Nobody insults Melanie to his face. He knows now that the feeling he felt there wasn't just anger, it was love.

He loves Melanie enough that even the mere thought of someone insulting her like that enrages him.

He knows what he feels now. Ironically, he has Dove to thank- though Dove won't be doing much talking for a month, he still thanks him.

He cleared up his mind.

* * *

And so, throughout the next year, Cardin, slowly and surely, falls more and more for the polite, nice girl who'd decided to sit next to him that fateful day in the cafeteria.

Cheesy love letters, gifts of chocolates and plushies, shy attempts at confessions, all of it. He tries it all.

And one day...

* * *

Cardin Winchester is sitting alone. It's been two years since he met Melanie.

He watches Weiss sail back from her dorm window with a large boxing glove on a spring. He sighs, chuckling.

"Ah...RWBY." He sighs. He will never understand their antics and insanity. Ever. While he envies the bond they have- even he and Sky, the only other CRDL member to have a shred of decency aren't that close-, he doesn't envy the antics of Yang at all.

"...you were looking for me?" Melanie appears, smiling.

"Uh..." Cardin blushes. "Yeah. I was.

"...I got your lettter." She smiles.

"Yeah...uh..." He rubs the back of his head, embarrassed. "Yeah...I was kinda scared to...confess in person."  
"I can tell. Don't worry." She giggles. "I kinda like that."  
"Eheh..."  
"You know, Cardin..." Melanie starts. "When I was talking about my ideal guy, a long time ago...I was talking about you."

"What...really?!"  
"Mhm." She smiles. "You know, the moment I met you, I knew you weren't a bad guy. I mean, I knew the rumours about you, but I knew you couldn't be all bad."  
"T-thanks..."  
"And...I was rewarded well, wasn't I?" Melanie laughs. "I mean...who else could make such adorable plushies of me?" She holds up a plushie of herself, giggling. "...and who else would put such work into that, all for me?"  
"R-really...it's nothing..."  
"Cardin, you've got to stop putting yourself down." She sighs. "You're not the guy I met two years ago, sitting alone, everyone hating him, doing things badly. You're a new man. A man I like and...well...I love." She smiles sweetly at him.

Cardin blushes. "Uh...eheh..." He blushes even more as Melanie sits next to him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "So...where do you wanna go out?"  
"Uh...well..." He shrugs. "I was thinking...we could check out that manga place in Vale, after we have dinner at this cool pizza place..."  
"Sounds nice." She nods. "Oh, by the way...apparently Weiss' dad- Siegfried, he was called- wants us to hang out with his daughter and do stuff. He wants us to go on a beach trip that he's paying for."  
"Well, if I'm going with you..." Cardin nods. "Why not?"  
"Well, it shall be a thing, then!" Melanie nods, before standing up. "Now, should we go before Weiss gets up and utterly explodes?"  
"Yeah. That might be a good idea." He laughs.

As the pair walk off to their date, Cardin Winchester realises something.

He doesn't just feel cared about.

He feels _loved._

And the thought makes him smile and hold his new girlfriend just a little tighter.

* * *

**END**

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I kinda flopped there, since I was in a rush and I was disturbed about five times during the writing of this, but yeah, have some nice Reactsverse!CardinxMelanie fluff of madness! Woo!**

**Well, next Weiss Reacts chapter will be Weiss Reacts to Copycat Sues! It's...really pretty obvious what's going to happen. Oh well!**

**So, I hope you guys enjoyed that, leave your reviews, suggestions, criticisms, thoughts and ideas- especially your opinions on whether or not I should do more of these Reactsverse One-Shots- and I hope you guys have a great day! Until next time!**


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